The 45-20 vote sends the bill back to the Senate, which approved a different version a week ago. The House added 12 amendments and more than half included bipartisan support. The two chambers will meet next week to negotiate a compromise plan and the differences may prove tough to overcome.

“No one got everything they want but together we passed a reasonable, responsible, balanced budget,” said Rep. Millie Hamner, a Dillon Democrat and budget writer.

The House vote represents a flip from the Senate, where the Republican majority supported it and most Democrats opposed it.

With a unanimous Senate vote Monday, a spending bill to add money to the program that provides driver’s licenses to immigrants in the country illegally is headed to Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper’s desk.

The immigrant driver’s license legislation vexed state lawmakers for half the session as Republicans moved to slash the program and Democrats wanted to add money — a partisan fight that colored early negotiations in the split General Assembly.

The GOP effort blocked a supplemental spending bill that the Division of Motor Vehicles needed to maintain operations and led the controversial program to reduce service to one Denver office, rather than the five original locations across the state. But in the end, the two sides reached a deal to add $62,000 and operate three offices — two more than current practice.

The Democratic-led House approved the conference committee last week and the Republican-controlled Senate did the same without discussion in a 34-0 vote.

It’s far less than the program’s advocates originally wanted. Hickenlooper’s administration initially requested $1.6 million to open a total of 10 offices to meet the huge demand for the program. But the Democratic governor is expected to sign the bill.

Each of the measures were debated in a marathon floor session, and in several hours of testimony in committee hearings, before passing through the House where Democrats hold a 37-28 edge. In the Senate, Democrats hold a 20-15 advantage and Republicans need three Democratic “no” votes to spike a bill.

In the wake of comments by Rep. Todd Akin, R-Mo., about “legitimate rape”– which drew nationwide criticism — Democrats are now highlighting legislation he and Republican Rep. Mike Coffman co-sponsored in the U.S. House that could have redefined rape.

Coffman, who is running for re-election in the Aurora-based 6th Congressional District, is among many House Republicans who in 2011 co-sponsored the “No Taxpayer Funding for Abortions Act.” The measure examined redefining a ban on federal funding for abortions to exempt only “forcible rape” — and not rape in more broader terms.

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee targeted both Coffman and Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis. — the running mate of presumptive GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney — Monday for their support of the measure.

Joey Bunch has been a reporter for 28 years, including the last 12 at The Denver Post. For various newspapers he has covered the environment, water issues, politics, civil rights, sports and the casino industry.